Soldiers detain Transition Committee chair

Soldiers in Aba, Abia State, have apprehended the Transition Committee chairman of Obingwa Local Government Area, Prince Obinna Nwabiaraije for allegedly being in possession of materials said to belong to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Nwabiaraije was detained for failing to explain why bottles of ink, pads and result sheets, among others, were found in a car on his convoy.

Sources said that the materials were discovered during a stop-and-search operation by soldiers at the Waterside Bridge along the Aba- Ikot Ekpene Expressway.

A source who would not want to be mentioned said when the Obingwa transition chief could not give a credible explanation on the presence of the INEC materials, the soldiers ordered him to lie down on the expressway.

The source said that all entreaties by the suspect’s father to release his son failed as the soldiers insisted that they would take Nwabiaraije to their base.

Investigations by The Nation revealed that the Obingwa Transitional Committee Chairman was later taken to the Ngwa High School Forward Operation Base (FOB) where he was said to have been detained and later released after the father, who was once a former Deputy council chairman of Abia State Traditional Rulers’ Council made calls to the powers that be in the state.

Information gathered by The Nation has it that as at the time of this report, the vehicle used in conveying the materials was still in the army’s custody at Ngwa High School near Osisioma.

The Public Relations Officer of 14 Brigade, Ohafia could not be reached at the time of the report, but sources confirmed that the TC chairman was in the custody of the soldiers on Saturday, as well as the said vehicle.

The governorship election in the state was said to have marred by a lot of irregularities, including snatching of ballot boxes, result sheets, harassing of INEC officials and intimidation of agents of opposition parties by people alleged to be working for the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Anyim and Otti, who spoke to reporters described the election in the state as a sham, citing cases of electoral irregularities such as snatching of ballot boxes, use of fake uniformed men and thugs to harass and intimidate their party agents, among other electoral offences.

Otti said: “There was no election in Abia State. The governor and the PDP, in collaboration with INEC officials, went to various polling units and withdrew the original result sheets which they replaced with a fake one.

“We have information that the PDP were thumb-printing ballot papers in the official residence of a top PDP member in the state.

“They used thugs who wielded machetes and fire arms, and who shot sporadically in the air to harass and scare people away before snatching the ballot papers and result sheets. They did these things using fake uniformed men to cart away the election materials.

“It is the same situation in Umuahia, Aba North and South, Umuahia North and South, Ohafia, Umunneochi, Isiala Ngwa North and South. In fact, there is no election in Abia State and I am calling on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega to cancel the election in some of the areas where we have pockets of irregularities because what we witnessed was a total sham and cannot, in any way, be described as an election. We have evidences and genuine reason to call for the cancelation of the poll.”

The guber candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) however expressed the optimism that he would still defeat the ruling party in the state if the election was re-conducted in a credible and transparent atmosphere.

While appraising the conduct of the election, Anyim, however regretted reported cases of ballot-box snatching, intimidation of the opposition by the ruling party, stressing that such thuggish acts as reported by their agents in the field show the desperation of the ruling party.

He said: “It was primitive. Nigeria is too big for such a thing to happen; where election materials were being stolen. It shows that the PDP has failed the state because if they did well, they wouldn’t have resorted to stealing of ballot boxes and other sensitive materials. It is a total shame and shows how it has failed in giving the people good governance.

“It shows that they have badly managed the state and that is why the people need change which APC is will bring about when it comes on board as a government that the people of the state is truly yearning for, as the PDP has failed them in the past 16 years of their administration in the state.”

Also speaking, a chieftain of APGA and the Abia Central Senatorial candidate of the partyý in the just-concluded National Assembly election, Chief Ahamdi Emmanuel Nweke, corroborated Dr. Otti’s position, accusing the ruling party of rigging the process and causing mayhem.

Nweke said: “The action of the PDP and some corrupt INEC officials is a rape of democracy”.

The Nation gathered that security agents in the state recovered two AK47 rifles and 49 raps of Indian hemp from hoodlums who were yet to name their sponsor.